Comments on: Personal Brand Stereotypes #8: Choose Your Major Wisely

By: eleanor

eleanor — Sun, 18 May 2008 14:37:10 +0000

Interesting post (even if I’m seeing it a month late).
The concept of personal branding is relatively new to me, but on his blog, Dr. Tantillo just did a post last Friday for recent college graduates. He reprints the text of Steve Job’s speech to Stanford in 2005 and emphasizes the importance of knowing what your personal brand is before you a pick a major. Maybe I should have dropped out of college rather than major in English and regret it?
Anyway, here’s the post - http://drinkingoatmealstout.com/2008/04/07/start-thinking-about-your-personal-brand-early-even-in-college/

By: jrandom42

jrandom42 — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 16:15:04 +0000

A little stereotyping is necessary. Can you see the confusion of a candidate with a Marketing major applying for a position as an Electrical Engineer? It’s happened more than a few times.

By: Personal Brand Stereotypes #9: Jews Have Big Noses and Bald Spots « Personal Branding Blog - Dan Schawbel

Tue, 15 Apr 2008 10:21:01 +0000

[...] #8 - Choose your major wisely [...]

By: Luke

Luke — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 07:03:41 +0000

Dan…I have been following your work and your series with interest. I am looking forward to your next post, on being Jewish and the sterotypical attitudes toward people of Jewish ancestry. As with most stereotypes, much opinion is based on rumour and innuendo…and loose facts. Will be nice to hear everyone’s views (and yours) on the challenges this can present to your personal brand..and particularly when defining your target audience!

By: Dan Schawbel

Dan Schawbel — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 20:46:57 +0000

@ Katie - thanks for shining more light on this topic, I appreciate it. I wasn’t just making that up though and if you click on the % you will get the CollegeGrad.com research report. I do see you’ve done your homework as well, which is great.

Getting a job in a different major is challenging.

@RecruitingAnimal - the first impression is the most important and if you can convey trust, the “major” piece won’t be as important. You do need the skills to back up what you say though. In every situation if the product isn’t there, the marketing won’t be effective.

By: Katie Konrath

Katie Konrath — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 17:40:23 +0000

Dan, I strongly disagree with your point that 44% of employers consider a college major the most important things when they hire a college graduate. For my Masters dissertation, I surveyed 552 hiring managers for what they looked for in college graduates, and only 7 (not 7%, 7 respondents) said that a graduate’s college major is critical to their hiring decision. They really look for communications skills, the ability to manage time, creativity and the ability to work as part of a team. Specific job skills were ranked 8th place out of 9 skills by the hiring manager.

Sure, if you’re just the kind of graduate who took no initiative and only learned what they taught you, your major matters a lot. But if you’re curious, and make an effort to learn, it doesn’t matter at all.

And, of course, if you want to work in a big companies and fit neatly into one of their slots, your major could matter a lot there too.

But smart hiring managers are open to hiring grads with many different majors.

I studied Homeric Greek, and it has been great for me in interviews. People are intrigued, and they ask why–which gives me the perfect opportunity to really impress them with the real reasons I studied the classics. And I had absolutely no trouble getting the job I wanted… in Marketing.

By: Recruiting Animal

Recruiting Animal — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 16:17:42 +0000

The question you didn’t address is: “How do I deal with the stereotype if I am outside it?” For instance, “How can I sell my training in accounting or finance as an asset in a marketing job?” (If in fact, it can be an asset). And “How can I let people know that just because I’m a bean-counter, that doesn’t mean that I’m boring.” In a person to person encounter they will know soon enough but first you have to make it to that stage.

By: Amanda Linehan

Amanda Linehan — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 15:11:18 +0000

Dan, I agree that people will stereotype you based on your major when looking for entry-level jobs, but as you build experience they will then stereotype you based on that, whether or not it’s related to your major.

By: Scott Bradley

Scott Bradley — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 13:12:12 +0000

Dan!

Great article! Thanks for allowing me to help you with this post!